Shownotes
Feel like your life is pulled in too many directions? There’s a constant buzz of distraction, frustration with the world around you, and the fear that your efforts aren’t making any real difference. The pressure to react—to defend, to control, to “fix”—often drowns out the deeper call.
Pastor Jonathan speaks a truth few want to confront: you were never ordinary. Your moments of anger, stress, and even your quiet, unseen actions can become sacred ground. The invitation isn’t to hide your frustration or pretend it away, but to dress it in something new.
Where others see routine, you have the chance to carry the presence that turns any place, any task, any interaction into holy ground.
Every act of kindness, every brave moment of restraint, and every time you choose mercy over retaliation matter.
Scriptures Referenced: Exodus 19:5-6; Exodus 20:8-9, 26:1, 27:16, 32:7; Romans 12:1, 15:16; 1 Samuel 5:1; 1 Peter 2:1-9, 5:5; Hebrews 8:5, 13:15-16; Ephesians 5:2.
Key Insights
- Priesthood is not for a few select leaders but for every believer carrying God's presence into daily life.
- Authority comes not from titles but from intimacy with Christ—what you wear inside shows on the outside.
- Every ordinary place can become a sacred opportunity to reflect Christ through your actions and words.
- True transformation happens when you lay down your need to control and pick up the quiet power of humble service.
Key Sections
00:01:51 - Wear the True Identity
Ever catch yourself believing that spiritual authority belongs to “experts” or people with special titles? Notice the ease with which comparisons steal your confidence.
00:05:15 - Reflect the King’s Beauty
When daily habits feel monotonous and unseen struggles weigh heavy, it’s easy to think what’s hidden in you doesn’t matter. But what if both exposed and secret places are tailor-made to reveal God’s glory?
00:18:19 - Everyday Places Become Sacred
Pastor Jonathan presses into the ache of daily insignificance, revealing the breakthrough perspective that everywhere a royal priest sets foot, God’s presence intends to break in. Even interruptions are sacred setups for spiritual impact.
https://springhousemidweek.captivate.fm/episode/a-royal-priesthood
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Gathering Times
- Sundays, 9:00 AM
- Sundays, 11:00 AM
- Thursdays, 6:00 PM
Contact Info
Springhouse Church
14119 Old Nashville Highway
Smyrna TN 37167
CCLI License 2070006
Transcripts
Lord, we just take a moment to tell you that we love you,
Speaker:that we exalt you. We are grateful and we are thankful,
Speaker:Lord, for the way that you cover us, the way that you love us.
Speaker:Father, thank you for the grace. Thank you for the
Speaker:continual mercy in our lives. Thank you that you
Speaker:continue to woo us and draw us toward you even when we're
Speaker:not worthy of that. Lord, thank you,
Speaker:Lord, for loving us so well, so
Speaker:completely and so eternally. We love you
Speaker:and we bless you and we give you the glory tonight in Jesus
Speaker:name. And his people said, God is
Speaker:so good. God is so good.
Speaker:He is worthy of it all. He just
Speaker:is. I'm so grateful tonight for
Speaker:Pastor Jonathan's diligence. I have revisited
Speaker:his message on several occasions this week just
Speaker:because I do believe that the calling is to be
Speaker:that we are already the chosen generation, the royal priesthood.
Speaker:We have been set apart by God many, many
Speaker:years ago. We called this midweek
Speaker:gathering, etc. It was
Speaker:equipping the corps because we believed in our hearts and in
Speaker:our spirits that those of us who show up on a Thursday
Speaker:night, you're wanting to go a little bit deeper, you're wanting to dig a little
Speaker:bit further into the well. And so it is
Speaker:with great joy that I bring Pastor
Speaker:Jonathan up to help equip the corps tonight. Would you welcome him?
Speaker:Greetings, elect exiles of the dispersion in
Speaker:Smyrna, Tennessee. May
Speaker:God's grace and peace be multiplied in you.
Speaker:I told you I was going to do it. So last week we looked at
Speaker:what it means to live as the chosen people of God,
Speaker:empowered and dependent on His Holy Spirit. And by
Speaker:His Holy Spirit set apart to praise him in the
Speaker:midst of suffering and trials. We discussed the gift of
Speaker:grace as this empowering presence of God that's
Speaker:enabling us to be who he's created us to be so that we can do
Speaker:what he's called us to do. And one of the distinct
Speaker:callings of the chosen people of God is to the
Speaker:royal priesthood. So tonight we'll be studying First Peter,
Speaker:Chapter two, and through Exodus as well, and talking about what
Speaker:it means to answer that call. So the first thing we need to try to
Speaker:do is figure out what in the world the Apostle Peter would have
Speaker:understood the royal priesthood to mean. And I believe
Speaker:Peter gives us clues in his language and what he's saying that will draw
Speaker:our attention to the places where he is drawing from.
Speaker:And that's important that we try to figure that out because the concept
Speaker:of priests and priesthood in Scripture exist
Speaker:outside of the nation of Israel as well. Genesis
Speaker:41 mentions Potiphara, a priest of on in Egypt.
Speaker:And 1st Samuel 5 mentions the priest of Dagon or
Speaker:Dagon. And these are all priests and priesthoods dedicated
Speaker:to the worship of pagan little g gods.
Speaker:And we ain't about that. A royal
Speaker:priesthood is distinct in anointing and
Speaker:authority because we serve the one true God,
Speaker:Yahweh, who stands above them all. And Paul says
Speaker:it like this. This is a prayer over us.
Speaker:I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order
Speaker:that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the
Speaker:riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people
Speaker:and his incomparably great power. For us who believe
Speaker:that power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted
Speaker:when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right
Speaker:hand in the heavenly realms, far above
Speaker:all rule and authority, power and dominion, and
Speaker:every name that is invoked not only in the
Speaker:present age, but also in the one to come. And God
Speaker:placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be
Speaker:head over everything for the church, which is his body,
Speaker:the fullness of him who fills everything in every
Speaker:way. Amen. My daughter Michaela
Speaker:absolutely loves anything to do with
Speaker:princesses. She dresses up like Anna and Elsa and
Speaker:Cinderella every chance that she gets. And the other day, my wife
Speaker:Brittany was giving her a cookie with royal icing on it, and
Speaker:she's never had that before. So when Brittany sat it down in front of her,
Speaker:Brittany said, this is royal icing. And she goes, royal?
Speaker:That means princess stuff. That's what she said. And I thought when
Speaker:I heard that story, I was like, that's exactly right. She
Speaker:gets it. Royal means something significant.
Speaker:It's not like regular icing. It's not like regular
Speaker:priesthood. It's royal priesthood, okay?
Speaker:Because we have a king and a great high priest,
Speaker:and his name is Jesus, and we are here
Speaker:chosen to rule and reign with him and serve his purposes.
Speaker:I pray that when we hear it and know that and take hold of it,
Speaker:we will be spurred on like my daughter, and go,
Speaker:that's prince and princess stuff right there. That's. That's
Speaker:magnificent. It's a special blessing,
Speaker:an awesome authority worthy of our
Speaker:full attention. So let's see where I believe Peter may be
Speaker:focusing our attention. Firstly, we know that Peter was a
Speaker:fisherman by trade when Jesus first called him. In Acts,
Speaker:chapter four, Peter and John are brought before the priest and other
Speaker:Jewish leaders for preaching the gospel and doing
Speaker:these healings and everything. And it says that These priests and these
Speaker:leaders realized that Peter and John were unschooled
Speaker:ordinary men. But they were astonished by their
Speaker:courage and the authority they were walking in. And they
Speaker:took note that they had been with Jesus. And
Speaker:when it says unschooled here, it doesn't mean illiterate, and
Speaker:I'll tell you why here in a second. It means they had no formal
Speaker:rabbi training to be doing what they were doing, but they
Speaker:were operating under a higher authority.
Speaker:And when it says unschooled, I don't believe it mean. It can mean illiterate. Because
Speaker:Peter proves to have an extensive knowledge
Speaker:of the Old Testament scriptures that we know of,
Speaker:and because the Book of Acts in first and Second Peter, he
Speaker:quotes or alludes to Old testament scriptures roughly
Speaker:50 times. In fact, 1 Peter 2:9,
Speaker:which is the verse that this series is primarily built around,
Speaker:is almost a direct reference to the corporate
Speaker:blessing and calling given to the nation of Israel
Speaker:in Exodus 19. So I'm going to read both of them side by
Speaker:side, back to back, so you can see this is 1 Peter
Speaker:2:9. You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood,
Speaker:a holy nation, God's special possession that you may
Speaker:declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his
Speaker:wonderful light. Exodus 19:5,6. Now if you
Speaker:obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all the
Speaker:nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole
Speaker:earth is mine, you have been chosen. I'm going to add that in because it's
Speaker:in there. You will be for me a kingdom of
Speaker:priests and a holy nation. So we spoke about last week that
Speaker:these elect exiles that Peter is writing to are
Speaker:predominantly made up of Gentile believers that were ministered
Speaker:to on Paul's missionary journeys, as mentioned in the Book of Acts.
Speaker:However, I would anticipate there would be Jewish believers in Christ
Speaker:that would be receiving the contents of this letter as well.
Speaker:So I believe that the parallel that Peter is making here
Speaker:does two very important things for this audience. So not
Speaker:only for the Jewish believers who have grown up knowing these
Speaker:scriptures, but for the Gentile believers who don't have the same
Speaker:context, he's letting them know that
Speaker:through Jesus, both Jew and Gentile
Speaker:now share priestly access to the Father
Speaker:and offer spiritual sacrifices as his
Speaker:priestly people, there is a grafting in
Speaker:that has happened. Secondly, he's drawing the attention to these
Speaker:believers to the tabernacle specifically and the
Speaker:priesthood that existed during moses time. Hebrews
Speaker:8, 5 refers to this time as a type and
Speaker:shadow of the heavenly things. So we can look to
Speaker:these things in Scripture the way Peter does, and see them as
Speaker:instructive and valuable. But not only that,
Speaker:supremely more valuable when we see them through the lens
Speaker:of what Jesus has accomplished and the fact that all of those
Speaker:things have always been pointing to him all along.
Speaker:First Peter 2 starts with the following.
Speaker:Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and
Speaker:hypocrisy and envy and all slander, like newborn
Speaker:babies, long for the pure milk of the Word, so that
Speaker:by it you may grow in respect to salvation if you have
Speaker:tasted the kindness of the Lord. Since this passage is
Speaker:starting with the Word therefore, he's saying, in light of everything I just told
Speaker:you, which is primarily what we speak about last week, which is
Speaker:in this new birth, we have been given renewed hearts with
Speaker:renewed minds that have new ways of thinking and feeling and new
Speaker:affections in Christ. And he's saying, since we have that
Speaker:put aside from ourselves or put off from ourselves, these
Speaker:wicked heart postures of malice, deceit,
Speaker:hypocrisy, envy, and slander. The phrase
Speaker:put aside or put off from oneself struck me
Speaker:as really fascinating because it's an external
Speaker:act. It's something like, you can picture it visually,
Speaker:but yet all of the things that he's telling us to put aside are deeply
Speaker:within ourselves. So you would think that Peter would say
Speaker:something like, pull it out of you or get it out of there or something
Speaker:like that, but he doesn't say that. So purely in the sense of language
Speaker:and imagery here, it feels to me like taking off
Speaker:an item of clothing, which is a common theme
Speaker:seen in Paul's writings. And 1st Peter
Speaker:5, 5 seems to confirm Peter's connection with that idea
Speaker:as well. It says, clothe yourselves with humility
Speaker:towards one another. So again, I believe
Speaker:he's making these parallels between what he's writing in Exodus, where
Speaker:he's drawing from. And we learn that the priests that were
Speaker:consecrated, which means set apart for holy service, were. Were
Speaker:required to put on priestly garments in order to minister
Speaker:to the Lord. And God gives Moses these incredibly
Speaker:elaborate plans for the design of the tabernacle
Speaker:where God's presence would reside, but also the clothing
Speaker:that the priests would wear. And I want to read some of those passages because
Speaker:I think it kind of opens up an interesting connection here.
Speaker:This is Exodus 26:1. This is regarding the tabernacle,
Speaker:the tent of Meeting. Make the tabernacle with 10 curtains
Speaker:of finely twisted linen and blue, purple and scarlet
Speaker:yarn, with cherubim woven into them by a skilled
Speaker:worker. Then Exodus 27:16. This is the outer
Speaker:court, so external for the entrance to the
Speaker:courtyard. Provide a curtain 20 cubits long of
Speaker:blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely twisted
Speaker:linen. The work of an embroiderer with four posts and four
Speaker:bases onto the priestly garments. This is what they would wear on the
Speaker:outside. Exodus 20:8. Make the ephod of gold and
Speaker:of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and of finely twisted
Speaker:linen. The work of skilled hands. You guys seeing a pattern here?
Speaker:Okay. And the priestly. This is the undergarments. Exodus 20:8.
Speaker:You shall make for them linen breeches to cover their bare
Speaker:flesh. They shall reach from the loins even to the thighs.
Speaker:They shall be on Aaron and his sons, and when they enter the tent of
Speaker:meeting, or when they approach the altar to minister in the
Speaker:holy place, so they do not incur guilt and die.
Speaker:So the first thing is, is I've experienced holy underpants before,
Speaker:but never like that. And I'm glad that
Speaker:landed because my wife Brittany, said, take that out of there.
Speaker:But I should listen to my wife so my prayers don't get hindered.
Speaker:In all seriousness, there's a pattern here that I'm hoping I'm showing.
Speaker:It's as if the Lord desires for his priest and the
Speaker:place that his presence resides to be this
Speaker:perfect reflection inside and out, down to the
Speaker:finest details of his beauty and majesty that's
Speaker:reflected to the world. And what stands out to me is that it's
Speaker:the intimate places that no one else can see
Speaker:except God and his priests that carry the
Speaker:weight of guilt and death if they're
Speaker:neglected or improperly cared for. So that
Speaker:is exactly what Peter is urging us to do in putting these things
Speaker:aside that are in the depths of our hearts and clothing them
Speaker:with something pure instead. Exodus
:9 provides detailed instructions regarding
:proportions and preparation and consumption of food by the
:priests as part of their service to the Lord. Any deviation
:or mixing up in that process would be detrimental for the
:priest or the person involved. Which is parallel to Peter
:reminding us here to hunger and thirst for the pure spiritual
:milk of the Word. That word, pure, means undiluted,
:not mixed with anything else. And what we put
:into our minds and our hearts as priests is
:so important because oftentimes when we're being
:crushed or experiencing trials, it's what
:we put in and feed ourselves that comes out.
:I got T boned at an intersection one time, and the first word out of
:my mouth was Jesus. And I thought, praise the Lord. That was the first word
:out of my mouth. It's working. You're working,
:Lord. Our purpose in min.
:Part of our purpose in ministering to God is reflecting his
:image to the world accurately, both in what is seen and what
:is hidden. One day last year, my family and I were
:driving on Lee Victory Parkway, and we hit this school zone.
:It was a kind of a lengthy school zone that's over there. And it was
:really jam packed with traffic this day. But it wasn't a standstill. It's just we
:all had to slow down to that school zone speed and start traveling. And as
:I got about midway through it, I heard this
:horn that was, like, blazing loud behind me, and it was
:getting louder and louder and louder. And when I looked in my rearview mirror, there
:was this black truck just barreling towards all this
:group of cars in our two lanes there. And when he got to
:the school zone, he was forced to kind of slam on his brakes. But I
:could see in the distance he was weaving in and out of traffic all
:dangerously. I mean, I was like, he was putting people's lives at
:risk. He was driving on the shoulder to get around everybody. And by
:the time I was kind of at the front of the pack, he had started
:to pass everybody. He puts himself outside
:of the window, cusses everybody out, and
:gives, like, the. The finger to everybody. And I
:am furious at this point. I'm like, I have made
:it up in my mind, you know, Let me say this. I like to call
:moments like that moments that test my
:Christian. Like somebody cuts me off, somebody takes my
:parking spot. They're moments that test my Christian. And this one was really bad. I
:was furious at this guy for putting everyone's lives in
:danger. And I remember resolving in my mind, I'm not gonna let
:him get away with it, you know? And once I got out
:of the school zone, I could see up ahead that he was stuck at a
:light and he was trying to turn. So I knew I could catch up
:to him. So I changed lanes, changed direction from where I
:was going completely. I get over. And as I'm catching up
:to him, I hear a voice, almost frantically, of the Holy Spirit
:saying, you're a pastor, and you have two kids in a car. You're a pastor,
:and you have two kids in the car. It actually was the Holy Spirit speaking
:through my wife Brittany, who was reminding
:me of my identity and my
:priorities. Okay, so if we follow this
:metaphor through here, there was a man
:that was completely blind to the reality of the world
:around him. This guy, completely blind to see the
:damage that he was causing in his sin here,
:but because of the anger in my heart. If I
:had caught up to him, he would not have experienced
:a priest that was reflecting Christ.
:He would have experienced the old me, the
:one that is called to die daily. If not for the Holy
:Spirit intervening in that situation and reminding me of
:my identity and my purpose, my response
:would have diminished my witness. It would have put others
:in danger and surprise probably would not have
:changed this guy at all.
:Imagine the headline pastor from Springhouse Church, the
:church that claims to love big, live truth and healthy
:family, found verbally and physically assaulting a
:man on the side of the road. That would not be a
:true reflection of the church that I serve, and
:it wouldn't especially be a true reflection of the king
:that I serve. It's important that the priesthood of
:believers accurately reflect the image of Christ to
:humanity. We do so by
:putting to death this earthly nature, putting on
:priestly garments of compassion and kindness and
:humility that we learn from the Word
:and that is revealed in Jesus. 1st Peter
:2, 4, 5 goes on to say, as you
:come to him, the living stone, rejected by humans,
:but chosen by God and precious to him, you also, like
:living stones, are being built into a spiritual house
:to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices
:acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. And a significant
:aspect of our priestly calling is to offer spiritual
:sacrifices that are acceptable to God. So what does Scripture
:tell us? Some of these sacrifices are
:1 I appeal to you, therefore, brothers,
:by the mercies of God, present your bodies as a living sacrifice,
:holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
:Here we go. Hebrews 13:15 Let us
:continually offer to God a sacrifice of
:praise, the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.
:16 do not forget to do
:good and to share with others, for with such
:sacrifices God is pleased. Ephesians 5:2 Walk in
:the way of love. Just as Christ loved us and gave himself up
:as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God, in
:16 he gave me
:the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that
:the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God,
:sanctified by the Holy Spirit. So giving our bodies as a living
:sacrifice, praising God good deeds, sharing
:our resources with others, sacrificing ourselves for the good of others,
:leading others to Christ. All spiritual sacrifices that are pleasing
:to God. And the word spiritual house there in
:Greek refers to the tabernacle again, or
:the place where God's presence dwells. And Exodus
:40 describes the completion of the tabernacle and
:how the glory and presence of God fills it,
:but also covers it as a cloud. And
:part of the blessing and authority given
:specifically to the Levites was to be responsible for
:packing up and moving and setting up the
:tabernacle. Wherever and whenever this cloud started to
:move, wherever the presence led them, they
:carried forward. So that means whenever the
:tabernacle was. I'm sure you got to picture this.
:Whenever the tabernacle was moving through the wilderness, the
:tent of meeting, the place where his presence reside for all those
:years, the presence of the Lord could be viewed and
:experienced by anyone in the vicinity of
:it, inside or outside the camp. And that
:also means that wherever the presence of the Lord was leading his
:people to go, that place became an
:appropriate place to offer up sacrifices to
:God. So what that means for us today is that every place
:that we put our feet to as the royal priest of God is
:a place where his presence can be experienced
:through the spiritual sacrifices that we offer that are pleasing to
:him. Peter says, live
:such good lives among the pagans that though they
:accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds
:and glorify God on the day he visits us.
:Good deeds, spiritual sacrifice. I pray that
:revelation provides us with this kind of
:new, clear kingdom lens perspective to see
:our everyday lives through. We could go to sleep every night thinking,
:oh, I got to wake up tomorrow and go to work with these people that
:I don't like, which I don't think of.
:Disclaimer. Or we can go to bed thinking, man,
:everywhere I put my foot to tomorrow, I'm
:carrying the presence of God. And I can offer
:these spiritual offerings, these sacrifices of
:praise to Him. A few months ago, we were
:nearing our Easter services, which has a Good
:Friday worship night and the Easter service. And that
:whole weekend takes a whole lot of preparation and
:scheduling, kind of more so than a normal Sunday service.
:And it was really tight this year because the conference and that were only
:a couple weeks apart, so I really had to put my head down and
:grind it out. And usually when I'm doing that, I will shut my
:office door just so there's no distractions. But this particular day,
:I left my door open. And because there's usually not a
:whole lot of foot traffic down there on that side. And wouldn't you know
:it, a man walks in unplanned, looking for
:another pastor who wasn't there because there was no scheduled
:appointment. And I had never met this man before.
:And he comes into my office and he sits there, and five
:minutes turns into 10 minutes, 10 minutes turns into 30
:minutes. And we sat there talking for an hour.
:And it started with small talk and all this stuff, but after about
:20 or 30 minutes, and I could really sense this
:man was suffering. And I felt the Holy
:Spirit leading me to say some very specific things into his
:life, ask him some very specific questions. And it
:was just this amazing moment. And there were tears and I
:felt like he was lightened from that experience. And it was this
:really beautifully ordained moment orchestrated by
:God. And I remember thanking the Lord after He left and just realizing,
:man, it is so easy to forget sometimes in
:the day to day that we have been chosen to
:carry his presence and reveal his kingdom on the
:earth. And even though I didn't get anything done that
:day that I wanted to get done, I got to be part of what
:God wanted to get done. And that's supremely more
:important. It was this awesome reminder to
:me that the jobs that we have and the things that we do, those
:are not our identity. Our jobs
:don't identify what we have been created to be. Our
:identity is given by God, and He has identified
:and ordained us to be his royal priests.
:Our jobs and everything that we do and everything that we have
:exist as vehicles to accomplish his will,
:his purposes.
:In Exodus, after God calls Israel
:to be a kingdom of priests, he then gives instruction
:to the people through Moses for the ways that their lives
:should reflect his holiness. This is similar to how
:God is instructing his people through Peter as well.
:God instructs his people how to deal justly with servants, how to
:honor authority, what kind of sacrifices should be made. All
:of these same themes are echoed through First Peter as well.
:And we get to Exodus 32, something really interesting
:happens. So Moses is up on the mountain talking with God,
:and the Israelites become impatient and I'm going to say,
:forgetful of their identity and who saved them.
:And they decide to make this golden calf the object
:of their worship. And look at what the Lord says to Moses
:in this moment. Then the Lord said to Moses, go
:down because your people whom
:you brought out of Egypt have become corrupt.
:There's a stark contrast there from God saying,
:my chosen people to your people, or,
:I'm the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt to Moses, you did
:this. And when I was thinking through this, I was like, how can I compare
:this to something? Has anyone with kids ever experienced
:their I've already got a hand. She's like, amen,
:hallelujah. Your kid does something so incredibly
:wild that your spouse says, come and get your kid.
:As if they're not their kid anymore. This. This is
:what's happening. This is real life stuff right there.
:I love the hand that went up. Has anyone with kids? Yes. Whatever you're about
:to say, all of it. Okay.
:It shows there is a. In seriousness.
:Bring it back down. It
:shows that there is a relational fracture that
:happens in our identity and in our
:awareness of his presence. When we put other
:things before him,
:when we get distracted away from his presence, we
:lose clarity about how to live
:as his chosen people, as his royal priesthood.
:And one area of our lives that Peter specifically
:instructs us to be careful to keep Christ. The
:priority of our attention is in respect to how we
:submit earthly authority and government.
:Uh oh. I believe this is important
:to discuss because.
:I have. Pastor Ronnie, how many presidents did you say you've lived through at
:this point? Give me a minute.
:I counted it up for me the other day.
:However many that is, I think I've been through five or six at
:this point. I have witnessed how politics
:and government can become this area
:that draws the attention of God's royal
:priesthood away from their calling, which is
:to carry his presence and reveal his kingdom to
:humanity. So Springhouse, as long as I've known it, has
:sought to be a place that is careful not to
:camp on politics because we acknowledge them
:as something that has a tendency to draw our attention away
:from Jesus. And that's a
:good thing. That's a true thing. And I believe when the church
:thinks and responds to authority and government using
:the principles that Peter teaches, it may cause us
:to recognize these things as idols
:that have stolen our attention and give the
:perspective we need to put them in their proper place.
:So I'm only talking about this because Peter talks about it. Okay? You understand that
:first, Peter 2, 13, 7. Submit
:yourselves for the Lord's sake to
:every human authority, whether to the emperor as the supreme
:authority, or to governors who are sent by him to
:punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right.
:For it is God's will that by doing good, you should
:silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. Live
:as free people. Do not use your freedom as a cover up
:for evil. Live as God's slaves. Show proper respect
:to everyone. Love the family of believers. And here's the
:priority. Fear God. Honor the emperor.
:And as we spoke about last week, the historical context
:of these letters is that Peter is strengthening the
:Church in the face of persecution, which, by the way,
:is being sent to them by the Emperor.
:And by the way, who is also Falsely accusing these
:Christians of doing things that they haven't done
:yet. In a sense, Peter is here telling the people, if you really want to
:minister to God as a royal priest, learn
:to honor your worst enemies by responding
:with restraint and prayer.
:Our battle is not against flesh and blood.
:Peter's not calling us to agree with the decisions that
:these authorities make. He's calling God's royal priests to
:live a life that stays consistently aware of
:a higher kingdom of God so we can
:stay focused on pulling down compassion
:and mercy and humility and kindness from heaven and
:putting it into a culture that is suffering,
:into a culture that's facing chaos.
:So if we imagine this as Peter's one last
:Facebook post or Twitter feed where he gets the
:opportunity to call out the nonsense of the emperor, get
:all the followers and likes that he possibly can for the cause,
:he uses his platform as an opportunity to say, honor the
:guy who's trying to kill you, and do it for
:the sake of the Lord. Because God can use the light of your priestly
:conduct in powerful ways that you cannot imagine. And I know
:this because I saw it with Jesus
:and I want to be clear on this. So we'll apply this today
:because obviously the context is different. The way Peter
:frames this is bipartisan, okay? It
:shoots right up the middle. If we were to rewrite this today to apply
:it, we would say, fear God, honor the president. Which I would
:expect someone on either side of the aisle to say, well, which president?
:Surely you don't mean such and such. And I'll say, well,
:we don't need to put in a specific name, because Peter knows who
:the emperor is and he doesn't say his name.
:Because I believe Peter is helping these believers, helping
:equip these believers to take a problem that's right here in front of their
:faces and bring it way out here so
:that they can see it from a heavenly perspective. He is
:essentially saying, because you are a priest ministering to
:God from this day on, whatever emperor or
:government authority is in place, know that it's in place
:because of him. Whether you agree or disagree
:with them or whether they mean you harm or good, know that
:your Father is holding it all together.
:Honor them as best you can while keeping God the
:highest priority in your life. Peter
:does not want us to get distracted away from
:Jesus or his kingdom or his righteousness. He doesn't want our
:attention or our affections divided anywhere else.
:He's reminding us of our calling, our blessing
:and authority given to us from the most high God
:to represent The Kingdom.
:Last year, I went to a church conference in Nashville,
:and it was me and maybe, I think, nine other
:worship team members. And there were these breakout sessions that happened. And one
:session was worship songwriting, one was theology,
:one was missions, one was children's ministry.
:And most of the worship team, in fact, yeah, most
:of them wanted to go to the worship songwriting one, but I wanted to go
:to the theology one where the real Christians were. Okay.
:So we split off into groups, and I went in there, and it
:was packed. It was like a room this size. Most of the seats were taken
:up, and I really wanted to get an in seat. I don't know what it
:is. It's just a coveted position. Okay. And I found
:one over across the room. So I go in the room and I cut across,
:and I'm excited that I found one. But when I get there, there is a
:phone sitting in it where someone has saved their seat. So
:I'm really bummed out at this point, but it's fine. We're going to
:learn some theology. It's all good. But there's two empty seats right next to
:it. So I choose the one that's furthest away so that
:I leave room for the Holy Spirit to be here between this
:person. Actually, I'm just introverted, you know, and I don't want.
:So after a few minutes, you know, it gets
:so real so quick. In this theology session, we're talking about
:suffering for Christ and all this stuff. And I can actually hear the laughs
:of the other sessions coming through the walls
:where everyone's having fun. And I'm like, we're getting after it in here, you
:know? And after a few minutes, a guy walks in across the
:room with two tiny little dogs,
:and he comes to that seat and he moves
:that phone to the seat right next to us. And I'm
:like. And now I'm distracted by these cute dogs. There's a phone next to me
:trying to learn about suffering, and there's cute dogs trying to learn about suffering. There's
:cute dogs. And he starts recording the session on his phone, so I
:know it's his phone. And then after a few more minutes, he gets up and
:he leaves the room. So
:again, we're still learning. We're sitting there talking about suffering, and all
:of a sudden, the phone starts
:ringing louder than anything I've ever heard.
:I mean, it was full volume. And anyone that knows me
:knows I did not want to be there in that moment.
:Everything in me wanted to take that phone and just chuck it across the
:room. That's not my call to answer, right? But after
:three or four rings, people are starting to get distracted
:away from what's happening. And they start turning to me.
:They're so disappointed, like, are you really going to let that. And I'm so. And
:I go, you know what? This is my responsibility because people are being
:affected. So I reach over and I turn the phone off, which
:also stops the recording. And wouldn't you know
:it, that guy, as soon as I do that, comes in and
:I just go, I can't handle this anymore. So I pack up all my stuff
:and I go over to the worship team session where I should have been the
:whole time. I was like, I can't hang with the real Christians over there.
:This is the last point I want to make from that story. I mentioned
:at the start of this message that when
:Christ gave up his life for us and that
:veil was torn, the priestly call
:to rule with him by the
:authority he has given us and the blessing of access became
:available to all believers.
:The church at large, for centuries has made the
:mistake, I believe, of restricting or
:diminishing this call by perceiving it to
:be specific to pastors or elders
:or whatever. I am not part of the royal
:priesthood of believers because I am a pastor. I
:am a royal priest who is operating as a pastor.
:And this is what I believe. The last thing
:the enemy wants is for God's people
:to take hold of their true identity,
:to take hold of their royal and priestly
:identities in Christ. And I want all of you to know
:this is the main thing, that this call to the royal priesthood
:belongs to all of you. And when the church
:understands that
:we come to serve and not be served.
:So tomorrow morning when you wake up,
:you're not just an employee, not just a
:parent, not just a student, not just retired, not just
:a pastor. You are a
:royal priest of the Most High God.
:Wherever you go, you carry his presence. Whatever
:you do, you can offer up spiritual sacrifices.
:Whoever you encounter is someone who needs
:to experience his mercy, his holiness, his
:love. There is a
:world that is suffering.
